The Scripture makes it very clear that all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution; amen?  Not might:  shall.  Jesus said, “They hated Me, and they are going to hate you.”  We are the light of the world, but they prefer darkness because their deeds are evil.  They went out from us, those who are going to bring this persecution, because they are not of us.  They are of that spirit of antichrist.  The Scriptures have prophesied that, in these last days, many will no longer give heed to sound doctrine.  It will be doctrinal issues:  it will be about the establishment of truth and sound doctrine, and the people who are fighting in the good fight and will finish the race; amen?  But we have seen that the Scripture says, “that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1).  Now, we deal with these people in many different ways:  Some who have gone out become oppressors of the church, true enemies of the gospel, and they are to be marked and there is to be no fellowship with them.  We know that those who have been marked are as dead unto us:  they have been excommunicated because they have committed offenses that, if they were done under the Old Covenant, would cause them to be stoned to death.  Over the years we have seen different people whom we have had to mark.  Others have left, but are not reaching back in, are not causing discord in the church or among the brethren; they have gone out from us because some, having loved this present world are not of us, and are not of the body of Christ.  They are religious, part of the apostate religious system, which is called “The Great Whore.”  They are the force that is going to bring to preeminence the Man of Sin, or the Antichrist.  So, we find this false church hating and warring against the true church.  The kingdom of Satan, the kingdom of darkness, is at war with the kingdom of light.  We believe, and have always believed, in the imminent return of the Lord, but it is sooner now than when we first believed; amen?   “Come quickly, Lord Jesus,” is our cry.

In talking about preparing for persecution, we know that persecution will start from the religious, not the secular, people.  This is that spirit of antichrist, shown by how much of the professed church is ready at a moment to compromise with civil government and oppose the Word of God.  The Bible says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25).  We need to gather more, not less.  There’s no exception for a pandemic or if the government forbids it.  We are commanded as the church to come together to edify one another.  We come together for the very purpose of honoring God in our worship.  We don’t have song services; this is worship, and the Lord is enthroned upon the praises of His people; amen?   So, we lift Him up and we glorify Him.  The government, at this juncture, especially this government under which we find ourselves in this place and at this time, hates the kingdom of God and hates the name of Jesus.  They will not in any way subordinate themselves to the authority of God’s Word; yet, government buildings and our money say, “In God We Trust”.  Some government documents list “fundamentalist Christians” right next to terrorists.  It’s interesting that Islam is not named.  That’s because, every time it is spoken of in the news, we hear that Islam is a “peaceful religion.”  It is probably the bloodiest religion in existence.  They are mandated by the Koran to kill infidels.  In talking to certain Muslims, I refer them to their Koran: “Isn’t this what your book says, to kill your enemies?”  If they are truthful, they will say, “Yes.”  As I shared with one man and I said, “And our book says…” and he ended it for me: “Love your enemies.”  Isn’t it interesting which religion our government is siding with today?  They don’t even pretend to be neutral.